Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Jerry McCain !

Jerry McCain was born on June 19, 1930 in Etowah County, Alabama. In 1955 ,McCain got to record again (after a shot experience for the label Trumpet) ,this time with Ernie Young's Excello label from Nashville. Excello records gained fame due to the presence of some of it's better-known artists like Slim Harpo and Lightnin' Slim, but the Excello catalogue held an extremely diversified roster of talent, blues and otherwise, and Jerry McCain would contribute to its legend no less than any of the others.McCain recorded for Excello as Jerry McCain and His Upstarts, and the band name was appropriate. While his labelmates Lightnin' Slim and Lonesome Sundown were putting down sides that dealt with boilerplate blues themes like getting drunk, being thrown in jail, and losing your girl, McCain shot directly from the hip and introduced the modern "golddigging" woman. His release of "That's What They Want" nails to the wall, the familiar theme of a guy with an empty wallet and his ability to "get a chick". The lyrics to this song proclaim "Money Honey, That's what they want !" Taken to the same tune as Muddy Water's "Mannish Boy" (and Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man"), That's What They Want is not merely a slavish imitation of Muddy's hit. Instead it's a clever cover that manages to combine the lyrical theme and hard hitting beat of the original. McCain's genius here is that he brings the song off as a straight blues while at the same time delivering it in an almost slapstick manner.